Android, Blackberry getting Eurosport app

Launching this week, the Eurosport app on Android and Blackberry will offer broadly the same functionality as the original iPhone version, which was first made available in July 2009.

The app, which is free to download, features sports news and editorial content from Eurosport's website and news channel.

However, Android and Blackberry mobile devices will not get access to the Eurosport Player App, which launched on iPhone in February offering a live simulcast of the broadcaster's main channels.

The live and on-demand video app will remain an iPhone exclusive for the moment, but that situation could change in the coming months.

According to Eurosport, the sports news app has been downloaded 2.3 million times in under 12 months and is now the most popular sport app in Europe, with around 300,000 daily users.

Apple has apparently been sufficiently impressed by the news app's demand that it has decided to promote the service in the US market.

Speaking at the Eurosport Media Day, Arnaud Maillard said that the firm "never expected" such strong demand for its mobile services.

Maillard revealed that the team initially hoped to achieve 1m downloads in the app's first year, but realistically expected around 500,000.

He also indicated that advertising and subscription revenue from the mobile services has already made four-times the amount that Eurosport invested in their development.

"It is now much easier for us to invest more in mobile technology because we have already demonstrated that the Eurosport brand has great appeal in the mobile market," said Maillard.

Alongside coverage from the French Open, which is currently underway in Paris, Eurosport hopes that the World Cup will be a big driver for further consumer demand of its mobile apps.

Earlier in the month, new sales data indicated that Android-based mobile phones overtook the iPhone in North American sales during the first quarter of 2010, but RIM's Blackberry remains the clear market leader.